Systems and methods for providing an e-commerce slip cart

ABSTRACT

A method for managing an electronic commerce (e-commerce) shopping cart may include, in a computing device comprising a touch screen, memory, and at least one processor, receiving a selection of one of a plurality of web pages associated with an e-commerce web site. The selected one of the plurality of web pages and an indication of the e-commerce shopping cart may be displayed on the touch screen. The indication of the e-commerce shopping cart may be integrated for display into each of the plurality of web pages. While displaying the selected one of the plurality of web pages and the indication of the e-commerce shopping cart, at least one gesture event associated with the e-commerce shopping cart may be detected. Access to the e-commerce shopping cart may be enabled upon detecting the at least one gesture event.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/910,216, filed Jun. 5, 2013. The present application also makesreference to U.S. application Ser. No. 13/886,065, filed on May 2, 2013.The above-identified applications are hereby incorporated by referenceherein in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The subject disclosure relates generally to retail systems and, moreparticularly, relates to systems and methods for providing an electroniccommerce (e-commerce) slip cart.

BACKGROUND

As the Internet is becoming more commercially oriented, many product andservice providers utilize one or more on-line e-commerce web sites foroffering their products and services for sale. However, the e-commerceparticipants and potential purchasers of such products and services aregreatly limited by the flexibility and capabilities of the e-commerceweb sites.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of such approaches with some aspects of the present methodand apparatus set forth in the remainder of this disclosure withreference to the drawings.

SUMMARY

A system and/or method is disclosed for providing an e-commerce slipcart, substantially as shown in and/or described in connection with atleast one of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims.

These and other advantages, aspects and features of the presentdisclosure, as well as details of illustrated implementation(s) thereof,will be more fully understood from the following description anddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating example retail, computer networkenvironment for providing an e-commerce slip cart, in accordance with anexample embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example mobile computing device, whichmay be used in connection with the retail, computer network environmentof FIG. 1, in accordance with an example embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3A is a block diagram illustrating a screen shot of graphical userinterface of an e-commerce web site using a slip cart, in accordancewith an example embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3B is a block diagram illustrating another screen shot of a moredetailed view of the e-commerce slip cart of FIG. 3A, in accordance withan example embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating example steps of a method forproviding an e-commerce slip cart, in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As utilized herein the terms “circuits” and “circuitry” refer tophysical electronic components (i.e. hardware) and any software and/orfirmware (“code”) which may configure the hardware, be executed by thehardware, and or otherwise be associated with the hardware. As utilizedherein, “and/or” means any one or more of the items in the list joinedby “and/or”. As an example, “x and/or y” means any element of thethree-element set {(x), (y), (x, y)}. As another example, “x, y, and/orz” means any element of the seven-element set {(x), (y), (z), (x, y),(x, z), (y, z), (x, y, z)}. As utilized herein, the term “e.g.,”introduces a list of one or more non-limiting examples, instances, orillustrations. As utilized herein, the term “processor” may be used torefer to one or more of a central processing unit, a processor of asymmetric or asymmetric multiprocessor system, a digital signalprocessor, a micro-controller, a graphics/video processor, or anothertype of processor.

The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for providing ane-commerce slip cart. As used herein, the term “slip cart” (or“persistent cart” or “ever-present cart”) means an electronic commerce(e-commerce) shopping cart, which is integrated within and slides intoplace on every web page that is part of a merchant's e-commerce website, during a user's browsing session. For example, such “slip cart”will slide into place (e.g., at the upper right corner of the screen)and be part of every browsing page associated with the merchant's website, including search result pages and product details pages. In thisregard, the “slip cart” may comprise a separate work space on thee-commerce web site, where access to the “slip cart” may be enabledusing, for example, a gesture (e.g., a sliding gesture, a tappinggesture or another type of gesture using touch-screen capabilities of auser device) and/or another user command triggered via an input/outputsystem of the user device (e.g., a voice command, a mouse click, etc.).

Additionally, the “slip cart” may be implemented to use drag-and-dropfunctionality, enabling a user to slide any product (or service)appearing on the merchant's web site and drop it inside the “slip cart”,with instant visualization of quantity, item description, total cost ofall items in the cart, item categories, etc.

Furthermore, a user may save a currently active “slip cart”, creating asaved cart (or a saved items list or a saved items catalog), which maybe shared within the user's social network (or within other networks orsocial platforms, e.g., within a merchant's object driven newsfeed).When opened (e.g., a cart detailed view is activated), the “slip cart”may provide details on the items contents, checkout, payment andshipment selection capabilities (per item, per group of items, orcollectively for all items in the cart). The “slip cart” may also listspecial merchant promotions (e.g., coupons or other types of discounts)that are available for activation by the user, based on the contents ofthe “slip cart”. Additional information provided by the detailed view ofthe “slip cart” may also include a list of other saved carts (or “cartboards”) associated with the user, item recommendations provided basedon the items in the cart, as well as sharing, payment, shipment optionsfor any item, group of items or entire saved carts associated with theuser profile and appearing within the detailed view of the “slip cart”.

In this regard, by using a “slip cart” with the above functionalities,an e-commerce web site may allow a user to “work” on their order whilebrowsing/shopping on the merchant's web site. More specifically, byusing the above described functionalities of the “slip cart”, a usermay, for example, drag and drop items into the cart, as well as to shipthem, share them, or save the cart (and then share it via a socialnetwork) fluidly. The saved carts (or “cart boards”) may be, forexample, categorized based on the items within them, and may appear initem (or category) searches performed within social networks or withinthe merchant's e-commerce web site, thereby increasing item visibility,network traffic and e-commerce sales.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating example retail, computer networkenvironment for providing an e-commerce slip cart, in accordance with anexample embodiment of the disclosure. Referring to FIG. 1, the retail,computer network environment 100 may comprise a processing device 20 anda vendor system server (or a host) 68, which may be associated with aretailer. The processing device 20 may comprise a computing device suchas a smart phone, a mobile phone, a tablet and/or other mobile orcomputing devices. The host 68 may comprise suitable circuitry, logicand/or code and may be implemented as one or more network servers, whichmay be operable to implement an online retail channel of a retailer(e.g., one or more online stores of the retailer, where customers mayshop for items and/or services sold by the retailer using one or moreweb sites of the retailer, where the web site may use “slip cart”functionalities as described herein).

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the processingdevice 20 illustrated in FIG. 1 may be embodied in any device having theability to execute instructions, such as, by way of example, a personalcomputer, mainframe computer, personal-digital assistant (“FDA”),cellular telephone, or the like. Furthermore, while described andillustrated in the context of a single processing device 20, those ofordinary skill in the art will also appreciate that the various tasksdescribed hereinafter may be practiced in a distributed environmenthaving multiple processing devices linked via a wired and/or wirelesslocal (LAN) or wide-area network (WAN), whereby the executableinstructions may be associated with and/or executed by one or more ofmultiple processing devices.

For performing the various tasks in accordance with the executableinstructions, the processing device 20 may include a processing unit 22and a system memory 24, which may be linked via a bus 26. Withoutlimitation, the bus 26 may be a memory bus, a peripheral bus, and/or alocal bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. As needed for anyparticular purpose, the system memory 24 may include read only memory(ROM) 28 and/or random access memory (RAM) 30.

Additional memory devices may also be made accessible to the processingdevice 20 by means of, for example, a hard disk drive interface 32, amagnetic disk drive interface 34, and/or an optical disk drive interface36. As will be understood, these devices, which would be linked to thesystem bus 26, respectively allow for reading from and writing to a harddisk 38, reading from or writing to a removable magnetic disk 40, andfor reading from or writing to a removable optical disk 42, such as aCD/DVD ROM or other optical media. The drive interfaces and theirassociated computer-readable media allow for the nonvolatile storage ofcomputer readable instructions, data structures, program modules andother data for the processing device 20. Those of ordinary skill in theart will further appreciate that other types of non-transitory computerreadable media that can store data and/or instructions may be used forthis same purpose. Examples of such media devices include, but are notlimited to, magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digital videodisks,Bernoulli cartridges, random access memories, nano-drives, memorysticks, and other read/write and/or read-only memories and memorydevices.

A number of program modules may be stored in one or more of thememory/media devices. For example, a basic input/output system (BIOS)44, containing the basic routines that help to transfer informationbetween elements within the processing device 20, such as duringstart-up, may be stored in ROM 28. Similarly, the RAM 30, hard drive 38,and/or peripheral memory devices may be used to store computerexecutable instructions comprising an operating system 46, one or moreapplication programs 48 (such as a Web browser), other program modules50, and/or program data 52. Still further, computer-executableinstructions may be downloaded to one or more of the computing devicesas needed, for example via a network connection. Generally, the computerexecutable instructions may reside in program modules, which may includeroutines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. thatperform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types.

To allow a user to enter commands and information into the processingdevice 20, input devices such as a keyboard 54 and/or a pointing device56 may be provided. While not illustrated, other input devices mayinclude a microphone, a joystick, a game pad, a scanner, a camera, etc.These and other input devices may be connected to the processing unit 22by means of an interface 58 which, in turn, may be coupled to the bus26. Input devices may be connected to the processor 22 using interfacessuch as, for example, a parallel port, game port, FireWire, or auniversal serial bus (USB). To view information from the processingdevice 20, a monitor 60 (e.g., a touch screen monitor) or other type ofdisplay device may also be connected to the bus 26 via an interface,such as a video adapter 62. In addition to the monitor 60, theprocessing device 20 may also include other peripheral output devices,not shown, such as speakers and/or printers.

The processing device 20, illustrated in the exemplary form of acomputer system, is provided with executable instructions to, forexample, manage an e-commerce shopping cart (e.g., “slip cart”). Theexecutable instructions may provide a means (e.g., one or more userinterfaces in a web page) for a consumer, e.g., a user, customer, etc.,to access the vendor system server 68 and, among other things, to browsethrough an online catalog of items available for sale in the onlineretail channel of the retailer (online store), and order one or more ofsuch items by placing them (e.g., using drag-and-drop functionality) inan online e-commerce “slip cart” available for use at each page of theonline store.

The processing device 20 may receive a selection of one of a pluralityof web pages associated with an e-commerce web site (online store) of amerchant (e.g., a vendor, managing the vendor system server 68). Theselected one of the plurality of web pages and an indication of thee-commerce shopping cart may be displayed on the touch screen (e.g.,monitor 60). The indication of the e-commerce shopping cart may beintegrated for display into each of the plurality of web pages of theonline store. While displaying the selected one of the plurality of webpages and the indication of the e-commerce shopping cart, at least onegesture event associated with the e-commerce shopping cart may bedetected (e.g., a swiping gesture). Upon detecting the at least onegesture event, access to the e-commerce shopping cart may be enabled,allowing the user to edit the cart, check-out, ship items, use one ormore promotions displayed within the “slip cart” based on the cartcontents, save the cart as a “cart board”, share the currently saved“cart board” or a previously saved “cart board”, edit or ship items fromother previously saved “cart boards”, share one or more saved “cartboards” via a social network or another social platform (e.g., an objectdriven newsfeed of the merchant), and other “slip cart” functionalitiesdisclosed herein. Additional information about object driven newsfeedsmay be found in U.S. application Ser. No. 13/886,065, filed on May 2,2013, entitled “OBJECT DRIVEN NEWSFEED,” which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

As noted, the processing device 20 may also utilize logical connectionsto one or more remote processing devices, such as the vendor systemserver 68 having associated data repository 68A. In this regard, whilethe vendor system server 68 has been illustrated in the exemplary formof a computer, it will be appreciated that the vendor system server 68may, like processing device 20, be any type of a computing device havingprocessing capabilities. Again, it will be appreciated that the vendorsystem server 68 need not be implemented as a single device but may beimplemented in a manner, such that the tasks performed by the vendorsystem server 68 are distributed amongst a plurality of processingdevices/databases located at different geographical locations and linkedthrough a wired and/or wireless communication network. Additionally, thevendor system server 68 may have logical connections to other thirdparty systems (e.g., 69) via the network 12 and, via such connections,will be associated with data repositories that are associated with suchother third party systems. Such third party systems 69 may include,without limitation, systems of banking, credit, or other financialinstitutions, systems of third party providers of goods and/or services,systems of shipping/delivery companies, etc.

For performing tasks as needed, the vendor system server 68 may includemany or all of the elements described above relative to the processingdevice 20 and the “slip cart” implementation and functionalities. Inaddition, the vendor system server 68 may include executableinstructions for, among other things, manage an e-commerce shopping cart(e.g., “slip cart”). The executable instructions may provide a means(e.g., one or more user interfaces in a web page) for a consumer, e.g.,a user, customer, etc., to access (e.g., via processing device 20) thevendor system server 68 and, among other things, to browse through anonline catalog of items available for sale in the online retail channelof the retailer (online store), and order one or more of such items byplacing them (e.g., using drag-and-drop functionality) in an onlinee-commerce “slip cart” available for use at each page of the onlinestore.

Communications between the processing device 20 and the vendor systemserver 68 may be exchanged via a further processing device, such as anetwork router 72, which may be responsible for network routing.Communications with the network router 72 may be performed via a networkinterface component 73. Thus, within such a networked environment, e.g.,the Internet, World Wide Web, LAN, or other similar type of wired and/orwireless network, it will be appreciated that program modules depictedrelative to the processing device 20, or portions thereof, may be storedin the non-transitory memory storage device(s) of the vendor systemserver 68.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example mobile computing device, whichmay be used in connection with the retail, computer network environmentof FIG. 1, in accordance with an example embodiment of the disclosure.Referring to FIG. 2, there is illustrated a more detailed diagram of theprocessing device 20 in instances when it comprises a mobile computingdevice. More specifically, the computing device 200 may include ahandset, a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop, and/or another handheld orportable computing device. The computing device 200 may comprise, forexample, a main processor 202, a system memory 204, a communicationsubsystem 206, a sensory subsystem 208, an input/output (I/O) subsystem210, and a display 103. The computing device may also comprise anoperating system 212 and one or more applications 216, . . . , 218running on the computing device 200.

The main processor 202 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces, and/or code that may be operable to process data, and/orcontrol and/or manage operations of the computing device 200, and/ortasks and/or applications performed therein in connection with thearchitecture 100 (e.g., tasks associated with the “slip cart”functionalities disclosed herein). In this regard, the main processor202 may be operable to configure and/or control operations of variouscomponents and/or subsystems of the computing device 200, by utilizing,for example, one or more control signals. The main processor 202 enablesrunning and/or execution of applications, programs and/or code, whichmay be stored, for example, in the system memory 204. Alternatively, oneor more dedicated application processors may be utilized for runningand/or executing applications (or programs) in the computing device 200.

In some instances, one or more of the applications 216, . . . , 218running and/or executing on the computing device 200 may generate and/orupdate video content that may be rendered via the display 203. In someinstances, one or more of the applications 216, . . . , 218 may beoperable to implement an object driven newsfeed of an e-commercemerchant (and/or an e-commerce web site of the merchant). Additionally,such application(s) may be operable to implement “slip cart”functionalities, as described herein, in connection with the e-commerceweb site.

The system memory 204 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces, and/or code that may enable permanent and/or non-permanentstorage, buffering, and/or fetching of data, code and/or otherinformation, which may be used, consumed, and/or processed. In thisregard, the system memory 204 may comprise different memorytechnologies, including, for example, read-only memory (ROM), randomaccess memory (RAM), Flash memory, solid-state drive (SSD), and/orfield-programmable gate array (FPGA). The system memory 204 may store,for example, configuration data, which may comprise parameters and/orcode, comprising software and/or firmware (e.g., the operating system212 and/or the one or more applications 216, . . . , 218).

The communication subsystem 206 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces, and/or code operable to communicate data from and/or to thecomputing device, such as via one or more wired and/or wirelessconnections 220. The communication subsystem 206 may be configured tosupport one or more wired protocols (e.g., Ethernet standards, MOCA,etc.) and/or wireless protocols or interfaces (e.g., CDMA, WCDMA, TDMA,GSM, GPRS, UMTS, EDGE, EGPRS, OFDM, TD-SCDMA, HSDPA, LTE, WiMAX, WiFi,Bluetooth, and/or any other available wireless protocol/interface),facilitating transmission and/or reception of signals to and/or from thecomputing device 200, and/or processing of transmitted or receivedsignals in accordance with applicable wired or wireless protocols. Inthis regard, signal processing operations may comprise filtering,amplification, analog-to-digital conversion and/or digital-to-analogconversion, up-conversion/down-conversion of baseband signals,encoding/decoding, encryption/decryption, and/ormodulation/demodulation. In accordance with an embodiment of thedisclosure, the communication subsystem 206 may provide wired and/orwireless connections to, for example, the vendor system server 68 usingthe wired and/or wireless connections 220.

The sensory subsystem 208 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces, and/or code for obtaining and/or generating sensoryinformation, which may relate to the computing device 200, its user(s),and/or its environment. For example, the sensory subsystem 208 maycomprise positional or locational sensors (e.g., GPS or other GNSS basedsensors), ambient conditions (e.g., temperature, humidity, or light)sensors, and/or motion related sensors (e.g., accelerometer, gyroscope,pedometers, and/or altimeters). In some instances, one or more of thesensors within the sensory subsystem 208 (with or without the use ofcamera 214) may be used during a gesture, for purposes of indicatingdesire to transfer content between devices (e.g., to indicate thattransfer of content is desired, to indicate a direction where thereceiving device is located, to initiate an optical selector/interfacefor selecting a receiving device, as well as other uses as describedherein for facilitating the transfer of content).

The I/O subsystem 210 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces, and/or code for enabling user interactions with thecomputing device 200, enabling obtaining input from user(s) and/or toproviding output to the user(s). The I/O subsystem 210 may supportvarious types of inputs and/or outputs, including, for example, video,audio, and/or textual. In this regard, dedicated I/O devices and/orcomponents, external to or integrated within the computing device 200,may be utilized for inputting and/or outputting data during operationsof the I/O subsystem 210. Example I/O devices may comprise the camera214, displays, mice, keyboards, touchscreens, voice input interfaces,and other input/output interfaces or devices. With respect to videooutputs, the I/O subsystem 210 may be operable to generate and/orprocess video content, graphics, and/or textual data, and/or generatevideo frames based thereon for display, via the display 203 for example.

The display 203 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfacesand/or code that may enable displaying of video content, which may behandled and/or processed via the I/O subsystem 210. The display 203 mayinclude a touch-screen and may be used in outputting video data.

The operating system 212 may include software that is used to manage thevarious hardware resources of the computing device 200. The operatingsystem 212 may also be used to provide common services to computerprograms or applications, such as the one or more applications 216, . .. , 218. The operating system 212 may act as an intermediary between thehardware components and the one or more applications 216, . . . , 218.

The one or more applications 216, . . . , 218 may include one or moresoftware applications (i.e., computer programs) that may help a user ofthe computing device 200 perform a specific task. For example, asoftware application may include an interactive application thatdisplays content to a user and allows the user to provide input as tothe manner in which the content is provided and/or the type of contentthat is provided. To perform a task (e.g., web browsing, video playback,etc.), the one or more applications 216, . . . , 218 may access the CPU202, the memory 204, and/or any other circuit within the computingdevice 102, as well as the operating system 212. In some instances, oneor more of the applications 216, . . . , 218 may be operable toimplement an object driven newsfeed of an e-commerce merchant (and/or ane-commerce web site of the merchant). Additionally, such application(s)may be operable to implement “slip cart” functionalities, as describedherein, in connection with the e-commerce web site.

FIG. 3A is a block diagram illustrating a screen shot of graphical userinterface of an e-commerce web site using a slip cart, in accordancewith an example embodiment of the disclosure. Referring to FIG. 3A, thescreenshot 300 may illustrate a “slip cart” 302, which may be presentduring e-commerce activity of a user using the computing device 20. Forexample, a user may browse items available for sale on the e-commerceweb site. After deciding to buy item 306, user may use a “drag-and-drop”sliding gesture to slide the item 306 along path 308 and “drop” itinside the “slip cart” 302. The item count indication 304 may indicatethe number of items stored in the “slip cart” 302. The “slip cart”

In some instances, other sliding gestures may be used (e.g., a tappinggesture or another type of gesture using touch-screen capabilities ofthe user device 20) and/or another user command triggered via aninput/output system of the user device 20 (e.g., a voice command, amouse click, etc.).

In other instances, a user may activate (or open) the “slip cart” 302 bysliding it across the screen along an example sliding path 314, allowingfor instant visualization of quantity, item description, total cost ofall items in the cart, item categories, etc., as illustrated in FIG. 3B.

FIG. 3B is a block diagram illustrating another screen shot of a moredetailed view of the e-commerce slip cart of FIG. 3A, in accordance withan example embodiment of the disclosure. Referring to FIG. 3B, there isillustrated a screenshot 320 of the activated (or opened) “slip cart”302. More specifically, the screenshot 320 illustrates a detaileddescription 324. Additional functionality (e.g., buttons 326) may alsobe provided within the activated (open) “slip cart”, which may be usedto select one or more of the items inside the cart for payment,shipment, and/or store pickup.

Furthermore, a user may save the currently active “slip cart” 302 (e.g.,under the cart name 322), creating a saved cart (or a saved items listor a saved items catalog), which may be shared within the user's socialnetwork (or within other networks or social platforms, e.g., within amerchant's object driven newsfeed).

The “slip cart” 302 may also list additional information 328. Forexample, the additional information 328 may include special merchantpromotions (e.g., coupons or other types of discounts 334 and specificitem promotions 332) that are available for activation by the user,based on the contents of the “slip cart” 302. Additional informationprovided by the detailed view of the “slip cart” may also include a list330 of other saved carts (or “cart boards”) associated with the user.

Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, once cart boards are saved by user(s) ofthe merchant web site, the cart boards may be searchable and may appearin search results. For example, if a user performs a search for“generators” in the search field 310, the screenshot 300 provides anindication 312 that saved cart boards related to generators areavailable for access and review by the user. In this regard, saved cartboards may be used as recommendation lists for other users of thee-commerce web site.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating example steps of a method forproviding an e-commerce slip cart, in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the disclosure. Referring to FIGS. 1-4, the example methodfor managing an electronic commerce (e-commerce) shopping cart may startat 402 when, in a computing device 20 comprising a touch screen 203,memory 204, and at least one processor 202, a selection of one of aplurality of web pages associated with an e-commerce web site may bereceived. At 404, the selected one of the plurality of web pages and anindication of the e-commerce shopping cart (e.g., 302) may be displayedon the touch screen 203. The indication of the e-commerce shopping cartmay be integrated for display into each of the plurality of web pages.At 406, while displaying the selected one of the plurality of web pagesand the indication of the e-commerce shopping cart 302, at least onegesture event associated with the e-commerce shopping cart may bedetected. At 408, access to the e-commerce shopping cart 302 may beenabled upon detecting the at least one gesture event. At 410, a list324 of one or more items stored in the e-commerce shopping cart 302 andat least one purchase recommendation (e.g., 322-324) based on the one ormore items stored in the e-commerce shopping cart may be displayed onthe touch screen 203.

Accordingly, the present method and/or system may be realized inhardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. Thepresent method and/or system may be realized in a centralized fashion inat least one computer system, or in a distributed fashion wheredifferent elements are spread across several interconnected computersystems. Any kind of computer system or other system adapted forcarrying out the methods described herein is suited. A typicalcombination of hardware and software may be a general-purpose computersystem with a computer program that, when being loaded and executed,controls the computer system such that it carries out the methodsdescribed herein.

The present method and/or system may also be embedded in a computerprogram product, which comprises all the features enabling theimplementation of the methods described herein, and which when loaded ina computer system is able to carry out these methods. Computer programin the present context means any expression, in any language, code ornotation, of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having aninformation processing capability to perform a particular functioneither directly or after either or both of the following: a) conversionto another language, code or notation; b) reproduction in a differentmaterial form.

While the present method and/or apparatus has been described withreference to certain implementations, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents maybe substituted without departing from the scope of the present methodand/or apparatus. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt aparticular situation or material to the teachings of the presentdisclosure without departing from its scope. Therefore, it is intendedthat the present method and/or apparatus not be limited to theparticular implementations disclosed, but that the present method and/orapparatus will include all implementations falling within the scope ofthe appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for managing an electronic commerce(e-commerce) shopping cart, comprising: in a computing device comprisinga touch screen, memory, and at least one processor: receiving aselection of one of a plurality of web pages associated with ane-commerce web site; displaying the selected one of the plurality of webpages and an indication of the e-commerce shopping cart on the touchscreen, wherein: the indication of the e-commerce shopping cart slidesto a predetermined location on the touch screen, the e-commerce shoppingcart comprises a work space on the e-commerce web site, the e-commerceshopping cart is categorized according to one or more items within thee-commerce shopping cart, the e-commerce shopping cart is searchable bya third party, and the indication of the e-commerce shopping cart isintegrated for display into each of the plurality of web pages; whiledisplaying the selected one of the plurality of web pages and theindication of the e-commerce shopping cart, detecting at least onegesture event associated with the e-commerce shopping cart; upondetecting the at least one gesture event, enabling access to thee-commerce shopping cart, wherein the at least one gesture eventcomprises at least one sliding gesture, wherein the at least one slidinggesture comprises sliding the e-commerce shopping cart across the touchscreen in a sliding path; and upon enabling the access, displaying onthe touch screen: a list of one or more items stored in the e-commerceshopping cart, the one or more items available for sale on the web site;and at least one purchase recommendation for at least another itemavailable for sale on the web site, the at least one purchaserecommendation based on the one or more items stored in the e-commerceshopping cart.
 2. The method according to claim 1, comprising: enablingsharing at least a portion of the e-commerce shopping cart within asocial network associated with a user profile.
 3. The method accordingto claim 1, comprising: upon enabling the access, displaying on thetouch screen a list of one or more stored shopping carts associated witha user profile.
 4. A method for managing an electronic commerce(e-commerce) shopping cart, comprising: in a computing device comprisinga touch screen, memory, and at least one processor: receiving aselection of one of a plurality of web pages associated with ane-commerce web site; displaying the selected one of the plurality of webpages and an indication of the e-commerce shopping cart on the touchscreen, wherein: the indication of the e-commerce shopping cart slidesto a predetermined location on the touch screen, the e-commerce shoppingcart comprises a work space on the e-commerce web site, the e-commerceshopping cart is categorized according to one or more items within thee-commerce shopping cart, the e-commerce shopping cart is searchable bya third party, and the indication of the e-commerce shopping cart isintegrated for display into each of the plurality of web pages; whiledisplaying the selected one of the plurality of web pages and theindication of the e-commerce shopping cart, detecting at least onegesture event associated with the e-commerce shopping cart; and upondetecting the at least one gesture event, enabling access to thee-commerce shopping cart, wherein the at least one gesture eventcomprises at least one sliding gesture, wherein the at least one slidinggesture comprises sliding the e-commerce shopping cart across the touchscreen in a sliding path, wherein the indication of the e-commerceshopping cart comprises an indication of the number of items stored inthe e-commerce shopping cart.
 5. A method for managing an electroniccommerce (e-commerce) shopping cart, comprising: in a computing devicecomprising a touch screen, memory, and at least one processor: receivinga selection of one of a plurality of web pages associated with ane-commerce web site; displaying the selected one of the plurality of webpages and an indication of the e-commerce shopping cart on the touchscreen, wherein: the indication of the e-commerce shopping cart slidesto a predetermined location on the touch screen, the e-commerce shoppingcart comprises a work space on the e-commerce web site, the e-commerceshopping cart is categorized according to one or more items within thee-commerce shopping cart, the e-commerce shopping cart is searchable bya third party, and the indication of the e-commerce shopping cart isintegrated for display into each of the plurality of web pages; whiledisplaying the selected one of the plurality of web pages and theindication of the e-commerce shopping cart, detecting at least onegesture event associated with the e-commerce shopping cart; and upondetecting the at least one gesture event, enabling access to thee-commerce shopping cart, wherein the at least one gesture eventcomprises at least one sliding gesture, wherein the at least one slidinggesture comprises sliding the e-commerce shopping cart across the touchscreen in a sliding path, wherein the e-commerce shopping cart isassociated with a user profile of a user of the e-commerce web site. 6.The method according to claim 5, comprising: storing the e-commerceshopping cart as a shopping cart associated with the user profile. 7.The method according to claim 6, wherein the stored shopping cart isdiscoverable via an item search on the e-commerce web site.
 8. A methodfor managing an electronic commerce (e-commerce) shopping cart,comprising: in a computing device comprising a touch screen, memory, andat least one processor: receiving a selection of one of a plurality ofweb pages associated with an e-commerce web site; displaying theselected one of the plurality of web pages and an indication of thee-commerce shopping cart on the touch screen, wherein: the indication ofthe e-commerce shopping cart slides to a predetermined location on thetouch screen, the e-commerce shopping cart comprises a work space on thee-commerce web site, the e-commerce shopping cart is categorizedaccording to one or more items within the e-commerce shopping cart, thee-commerce shopping cart is searchable by a third party, and theindication of the e-commerce shopping cart is integrated for displayinto each of the plurality of web pages; while displaying the selectedone of the plurality of web pages and the indication of the e-commerceshopping cart, detecting at least one gesture event associated with thee-commerce shopping cart; upon detecting the at least one gesture event,enabling access to the e-commerce shopping cart, wherein the at leastone gesture event comprises at least one sliding gesture, wherein the atleast one sliding gesture comprises sliding the e-commerce shopping cartacross the touch screen in a sliding path; and upon detecting at leastanother gesture event, preventing access to the e-commerce shopping cartand resuming display of the selected one of the plurality of web pages.9. A non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium, having storedthereon a computer program having at least one code section for managingan electronic commerce (e-commerce) shopping cart, the at least one codesection executable by a machine for causing the machine to perform amethod comprising: in a computing device comprising a touch screen,memory, and at least one processor: receiving a selection of one of aplurality of web pages associated with an e-commerce web site;displaying the selected one of the plurality of web pages and anindication of the e-commerce shopping cart on the touch screen, wherein:the indication of the e-commerce shopping cart slides to a predeterminedlocation on the touch screen, the e-commerce shopping cart comprises awork space on the e-commerce web site, the e-commerce shopping cart iscategorized according to one or more items within the e-commerceshopping cart, the e-commerce shopping cart is searchable by a thirdparty, and the indication of the e-commerce shopping cart is integratedfor display into each of the plurality of web pages; while displayingthe selected one of the plurality of web pages and the indication of thee-commerce shopping cart, detecting at least one gesture eventassociated with the e-commerce shopping cart; and upon detecting the atleast one gesture event, enabling access to the e-commerce shoppingcart, wherein the at least one gesture event comprises at least onesliding gesture, wherein the at least one sliding gesture comprisessliding the e-commerce shopping cart across the touch screen in asliding path wherein the at least one code section comprises code for:upon enabling the access, displaying on the touch screen: a list of oneor more items stored in the e-commerce shopping cart, the one or moreitems available for sale on the web site; and at least one purchaserecommendation for at least another item available for sale on the website, the at least one purchase recommendation based on the one or moreitems stored in the e-commerce shopping cart.
 10. The non-transitory,machine-readable storage medium according to claim 9, wherein the atleast one code section comprises code for: enabling sharing at least aportion of the e-commerce shopping cart within a social networkassociated with a user profile.
 11. The non-transitory, machine-readablestorage medium according to claim 9, wherein the at least one codesection comprises code for: upon enabling the access, displaying on thetouch screen a list of one or more stored shopping carts associated witha user profile.
 12. A non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium,having stored thereon a computer program having at least one codesection for managing an electronic commerce (e-commerce) shopping cart,the at least one code section executable by a machine for causing themachine to perform a method comprising: in a computing device comprisinga touch screen, memory, and at least one processor: receiving aselection of one of a plurality of web pages associated with ane-commerce web site; displaying the selected one of the plurality of webpages and an indication of the e-commerce shopping cart on the touchscreen, wherein: the indication of the e-commerce shopping cart slidesto a predetermined location on the touch screen, the e-commerce shoppingcart comprises a work space on the e-commerce web site, the e-commerceshopping cart is categorized according to one or more items within thee-commerce shopping cart, the e-commerce shopping cart is searchable bya third party, and the indication of the e-commerce shopping cart isintegrated for display into each of the plurality of web pages; whiledisplaying the selected one of the plurality of web pages and theindication of the e-commerce shopping cart, detecting at least onegesture event associated with the e-commerce shopping cart; and upondetecting the at least one gesture event, enabling access to thee-commerce shopping cart, wherein the at least one gesture eventcomprises at least one sliding gesture, wherein the at least one slidinggesture comprises sliding the e-commerce shopping cart across the touchscreen in a sliding path wherein the indication of the e-commerceshopping cart comprises an indication of the number of items stored inthe e-commerce shopping cart.
 13. A non-transitory, machine-readablestorage medium, having stored thereon a computer program having at leastone code section for managing an electronic commerce (e-commerce)shopping cart, the at least one code section executable by a machine forcausing the machine to perform a method comprising: in a computingdevice comprising a touch screen, memory, and at least one processor:receiving a selection of one of a plurality of web pages associated withan e-commerce web site; displaying the selected one of the plurality ofweb pages and an indication of the e-commerce shopping cart on the touchscreen, wherein: the indication of the e-commerce shopping cart slidesto a predetermined location on the touch screen, the e-commerce shoppingcart comprises a work space on the e-commerce web site, the e-commerceshopping cart is categorized according to one or more items within thee-commerce shopping cart, the e-commerce shopping cart is searchable bya third party, and the indication of the e-commerce shopping cart isintegrated for display into each of the plurality of web pages; whiledisplaying the selected one of the plurality of web pages and theindication of the e-commerce shopping cart, detecting at least onegesture event associated with the e-commerce shopping cart; and upondetecting the at least one gesture event, enabling access to thee-commerce shopping cart, wherein the at least one gesture eventcomprises at least one sliding gesture, wherein the at least one slidinggesture comprises sliding the e-commerce shopping cart across the touchscreen in a sliding path wherein the e-commerce shopping cart isassociated with a user profile of a user of the e-commerce web site. 14.The non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium according to claim13, wherein the at least one code section comprises code for: storingthe e-commerce shopping cart as a shopping cart associated with the userprofile.
 15. The non-transitory, machine-readable storage mediumaccording to claim 14, wherein the stored shopping cart is discoverablevia an item search on the e-commerce web site.
 16. A non-transitory,machine-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computerprogram having at least one code section for managing an electroniccommerce (e-commerce) shopping cart, the at least one code sectionexecutable by a machine for causing the machine to perform a methodcomprising: in a computing device comprising a touch screen, memory, andat least one processor: receiving a selection of one of a plurality ofweb pages associated with an e-commerce web site; displaying theselected one of the plurality of web pages and an indication of thee-commerce shopping cart on the touch screen, wherein: the indication ofthe e-commerce shopping cart slides to a predetermined location on thetouch screen, the e-commerce shopping cart comprises a work space on thee-commerce web site, the e-commerce shopping cart is categorizedaccording to one or more items within the e-commerce shopping cart, thee-commerce shopping cart is searchable by a third party, and theindication of the e-commerce shopping cart is integrated for displayinto each of the plurality of web pages; while displaying the selectedone of the plurality of web pages and the indication of the e-commerceshopping cart, detecting at least one gesture event associated with thee-commerce shopping cart; and upon detecting the at least one gestureevent, enabling access to the e-commerce shopping cart, wherein the atleast one gesture event comprises at least one sliding gesture, whereinthe at least one sliding gesture comprises sliding the e-commerceshopping cart across the touch screen in a sliding path wherein the atleast one code section comprises code for: upon detecting at leastanother gesture event, preventing access to the e-commerce shopping cartand resuming display of the selected one of the plurality of web pages.